MADRID, Spain - A packed field has descended on Madrid for the second-biggest clay court event of the year - the Mutua Madrid Open. The draw ceremony took place on Friday and offered some spicy bracket intrigue, but in terms of appetizers, fans will enjoy some huge first round match-ups, including two of the WTAs biggest stars - Agnieszka Radwanska and Eugenie Bouchard - going head-to-head. Want to have a look at the Madrid draw for yourself? Click here! As expected, Serena Williams, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep are the Top 4 seeds (Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury). But which of the other Top 8 seeds were they matched up with, and which of the other threats in the draw fell into all their sections? Well... Williams, the No.1 seed, was drawn into the same quarter as No.5 seed Petra Kvitova. Williams has beaten Kvitova in all five of their previous meetings, though they have never played on clay - and Kvitova is a former champion here, winning it in 2011 - just before her famous Wimbledon triumph. Other seeds in the Williams quarter are No.12 seed Flavia Pennetta and No.14 seed Carla Suárez Navarro, who on Friday became the WTAs match win leader for the year, scoring her 25th in Oeiras. Halep, the No.4 seed, headlines the second quarter and drew No.6 seed Jelena Jankovic as her projected quarterfinal opponent. Halep leads Jankovic in their head-to-head, 3-1, and has won their last three meetings, though all four meetings have gone to three sets, including a few absolute marathons. The other seeds in the second quarter are No.11 seed Ana Ivanovic and No.15 seed Sabine Lisicki. Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded No.3, headlines the third quarter, and she was given No.7 seed Angelique Kerber as a projected quarterfinal opponent. Radwanska leads Kerber in their head-to-head, 5-4, though the pair has only played once on clay - and it came all the way back in 2008 in Berlin. Other threats in the Radwanska quarter are No.10 seed Sara Errani and No.13 seed Caroline Wozniacki, with Eugenie Bouchard in there as well - and Radwanska will face the Canadian first round. Two of the biggest WTA stars, No.2 seed Li Na and No.8 seed Maria Sharapova, were drawn into the bottom quarter together. Sharapova leads Li in their head-to-head, 9-5, and has actually won four of their last five meetings, but they did go 1-1 last year, Li winning in Australia and Sharapova in Stuttgart. Other names to watch in the bottom quarter are No.9 seed Dominika Cibulkova and No.16 seed Sloane Stephens, as well as one of the most dangerous clay court players out there, Samantha Stosur. - See more at: wtatennis/news/article/3800051/title/madrid-draw-radwanska-vs-bouchard#sthash.dxyLej3E.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 16:28:32 +0000
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